Social Influence On Social Psychology - 1870 Words

Social influence is a big matter in social psychology which is referred to the ways in which different people’s thoughts, actions and feelings are subjective by social groups. On a daily basis we are deluged by numerous efforts by others to influence us, and that’s why, the study of social influence has long been a dominant matter of analysis for social psychologists and researchers in many other social sciences (e.g. marketing and political science). Social Psychologists focus on the situation. They study the social influences that describe why the same person will act inversely in different situations. Theorists have typically distinguished between three types of social influence which are compliance, conformity, and obedience. Compliance is often referred to as an active form of social influence in that it is usually intentionally initiated by a person where they may choose to comply or not to comply. Yet, the thoughts of social reward and punishment may lead them to compliance when they really do not want too. During the 1970s, psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment in which participants played the roles of guards and prisoners in a mock-prison set up in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University. Originally slated to last two weeks, the experiment had to be terminated after just six days after the guards began displaying abusive behaviour and the prisoners became anxious and highly stressed. The experiment demonstrated how peopleShow MoreRelatedSocial Psychology And Social Influence1600 Words   |  7 PagesIn social psychology, social influence is a process where someone’s beliefs, thoughts and behaviour change by being exposed to beliefs, thoughts and opinion s of others. It manifests in several forms, such as obedience, compliance and conformity. All these types of social influence have been studied by numerous researchers who investigated the reasons why people conform to social norms and obey to authorities, such as Milgram’s classic studies on obedience. His experiments support the popular ideaRead MoreSocial Psychology: Social Influence768 Words   |  3 PagesIntroduction Social influence is a major topic in social psychology and looks at how individual thoughts, actions, reactions and feelings are influenced by other people or social groups. â€Å"Social influence can be seen in our conformity, our obedience to authority, and our group behavior† (Psychology 579). Social influence may also be represented by peer pressure, persuasion, marketing and sales. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to determine how effective social influence is on a groupRead MoreSocial Psychology: The Study of Influences Essay1420 Words   |  6 Pagesthat has been explored. Psychology, or the study of â€Å"why†, has been attempting to answer such questions for centuries. Although there are many answers (reflected in the number of schools of psychology), Social psychology attempts to explain the environmental factors that lead to a person behavior. By definition, Social Psychology is â€Å"the study of the manner in which the personality, attitudes, motivations, and behavior of the individual influence and are influenced by social groups† (Merriam-WebsterRead MoreFritz Heiders Influence Of Social Psychology884 Words   |  4 PagesAt the beginning of the 1900s, Social Psychology was in its infancy as psychologists studied individuals and how they thought, felt, and behaved in their social environment. Scientific methods were developed to describe, capture, and measure social relationships and their influence. Fritz Heider was such a psychologists and his work still influences social psychology and its research today. Judgement of conduct, a current study by Dr. Wong Yee Cheung, is influenced by the work of Heider. The workRead MoreKurt Lewin s Influence On Social Psychology Essay1209 Words   |  5 Pagespsychologist who had the biggest impact on social psychology would be Kurt Lewin. Commonly known as the father of social psychology, Lewin put in countless hours of hard work and research in the study of the individual behavior among social situations. By working with other renowned psychologists, creating theories of his own, and leaving a mark on the world that still thrives today, Kurt Lewin is greatly responsible for the many of the advancements of psychology throughout history. Born in a smallRead MoreUnderstanding Social Psychology And How Relationships With Others Can Influence An Individual s Thoughts And Behaviors966 Words   |  4 PagesWhen studying social psychology, it is essential for one to understand social groups, how they work, and how relationships with others can influence an individual’s thoughts and behaviors. For this reason, a full understanding of cooperation is necessary for social psychologists. Defining Cooperation Cooperation has several components, and therefore must be broken down when being defined. Most importantly, it involves multiple people in any sort of beneficial relationship; that is, the outcomeRead MoreHow do others influence our behaviour? Discuss with reference to social psychology theory and research.1989 Words   |  8 Pagescount: 1,633 How do others influence our behaviour? Discuss with reference to social psychology theory and research. Social influence has many different definitions in psychology, it is mainly used to summarise the field of social psychology. Mainly looking at â€Å"how thoughts, feelings and behaviour of individuals are influenced by actual, imagined or implied presence of others† (McGrath, 1970.) Our social life is mainly distinguished by our social influences; influences we are both consciously andRead MoreSocial Psychology Definition Paper1122 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Psychology Definition Paper Sinthia Brye PSY/ 400 August 30, 2010 Joyce Willis Social Psychology Introduction Social psychology it observes as the influence of our situations with special attention on how we view and affect one another. Social psychology perceives the way we think, influence people, and relates to others. Social psychology lies at psychology’s boundary with sociology, which sociology is the study of people in groups and societies? Social psychology isRead MoreThe Study of Human Behavior in Given Situations1613 Words   |  7 PagesPsychology is a social science study that covers diverse subject topics and carries out different forms of research in order to understand the development and function of human beings. It is a scientific study that focuses on peoples mind and its functions especially those affecting behavior in a particular context. Psychology is divided into different branches, and each branch addresses its own form of content in relation to mental processes and behavior. Social psychology is one of the psychologyRead More Social Psychology Essay1687 Words   |  7 Pagesorigins of modern social psychology. It is therefore important to consider that social psychology cannot be traced back to one single source of origin (Burr, 2003). Hence, this is the reason why there are debates of what social psychology is. Allport (1985) describe d social psychology as the study an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours which are influenced by the actual, imagines, or implied presence of others. As seen from this definition there is a direct link between social science and the

Psychological And Physical Effects Of Procrastination Essay

The Psychology of Procrastination Marcus W. Middleton Caledonia Mumford Central School Abstract The psychological and physical effects of procrastination can be detrimental to the health of an individual. However this is a fixable habit that can be overcome through learning and treatment. Introduction In 2007, it was found that up to 95% of students in the United States procrastinated on academic tasks. Even worse, 30% to 60% of those students procrastinated regularly and 75% of them considered themselves to be procrastinators (Skowronski and Mirowska, 2013). While procrastination can have negative effects on one’s health both physically and mentally, this lifestyle can and should be changed. Many of those who procrastinate disregard the mal-effects of procrastination. Some of these effects include cardiovascular disease and even an increased susceptibility to illnesses. There are psychological and physical aspects of procrastination that can make it difficult to overcome this habit, but data supports that through learning about procrastination and how to control one’s time, individuals definitely have the power to become well managed workers. Discussion REASONS Procrastination can be expressed in many ways. There are so many different ways to procrastinate because there is a multitude of reasons why people engage in this self-harming lifestyle. Procrastination has been shown to be a universal pattern (Yesil, 2012). People find things to procrastinateShow MoreRelated Procrastination: Habit or Disorder? Essay1395 Words   |  6 PagesProcrastination: Habit or Disorder? Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday and avoiding today. - Wayne Dyer (6) Universally common to college students, procrastination is often addressed as a bad habit. Yet, in most cases, this isnt a nuance, but a perpetual occurrence - no longer qualifying for the term habit. Typically thought of as a behavioral trait, procrastination thrives on a cycle of blame shifting and avoidance. Falling victim to this habit myself, I embarkedRead MoreThe Negative Effect of Procrastination on College Students858 Words   |  4 PagesProcrastination is a tendency to postpone, put off, delay, reschedule, take a rain check on, put on ice, hold off, or to defer what is necessary to reach a particular goal.(Rogets 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition. Philip Lief Group 2009.) While attending College some students find it hard to juggle work, family, and friends. Leading most students down a dangerous path to procrastination; that negative impact affect students from their physical health, mental health, and social health. EveryoneRead MoreProcrastination Is The Thief Of Time868 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Procrastination is the thief of time.† Edward Young The ability to procrastinate can be very easy. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines procrastinate as: to put off intentionally and habitually, to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done. (online) To choose something enjoyable over a task that must be done is sometimes very easy. Why do we procrastinate? Why do we make the choice to put off todays task till tomorrow? What are some of the causes of procrastinationRead MoreInformative Speech On Procrastination1023 Words   |  5 Pagesapproaching and you still haven’t come close to completing your assignment. And we end up somewhere like this. Well, I believe that we can all relate to this and we have all done this to ourselves before. I’m talking about procrastination. B. Social Significance: For many of us, procrastination is a strong and inexplicable force that prevents us from completing our important and urgent tasks. It’s like the same thing when you bring the like poles of magnets together, it repels. And according to a statisticalRead MoreStrategies for Overcoming Procrastination1081 Words   |  5 PagesStrategies for Overcoming Procrastination Keanna Jones Gen 200 March 18, 2010 Instructor: Jenta Young â€Å"You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step† says Martin Luther King Jr. (Finest Quotes, Lift Your Spirit Up, 2010). Sounds simple enough to some, but for many people taking the first step can be quite difficult. In other words, putting off something intentionally that should be done is called procrastinating (Merriam-Webster, 2010). There are lots of reasonsRead MoreHow Sleep Are Capable Of Predicting Significant Health Outcomes1599 Words   |  7 Pagesits effect on both mental and physical health (Kroese, Evers, Adriaanse, Ridder, 2016). Digdon and Howell (2008) note procrastination to be the inclination to postpone task commencement or conclusion, wavering actions, or the demonstration of insufficient time allotment for the accomplishment of tasks. Therefore, opting to go to bed later than primarily intended with no external influence is termed bedtime procrastination (Kroese., et al. 2016). Reported associations between procrastination andRead MoreStudent Procrastination And An Open Testing Environment958 Words   |  4 PagesAcademic procrastination is an established area of research in higher education and psychology. This phenomenon has been studied with many forms of student assignments, including those in online courses (e.g., Goda, Yamada, Kato, Matsuda, Saito Miyagawa, 2014; McElroy Lubich, 2013; Klingsieck, Fries, Horz, Hofer, 2012; Rabin, Fogel, Nutter-Upham, 2011). Up to 70% of university students consider themselves to be procrastinators (Goda et al., 2014; Schouwenburg, Lay, Pychyl, Ferrari, 2004)Read MoreNegative Effects Of Social Media1297 Words   |  6 Pagesnetworks can cause adverse psychological harm and even lead to physical harm. Although many may argue that social media pertains to be useful, there prove to be more harmful aspects rather than helpful aspects of these media sites. These effects are not only psychological, but they may also be physical. Not only do social networks cause depression, anxiety, and cyberbullying, they also can result in decreased privacy and physical harm. By recognizing these harmful effects, it is possible to combatRead MoreThe Biological Approach : Mental Processes And Behaviors1356 Words   |  6 Pagesforget memories and thought processes. Neurons are the basic building blocks of the brain and nervous system. They control our muscle movements and thought processes. If neurons are damaged people may experience difficulty in various cognitive and physical behaviors. Everything we do depends on neurons communicating with each other. Neurons communicate by sending and receiving electrical signals throughout the brain and body with the use of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that areRead MoreSocial Networking Addiction1159 Words   |  5 Pagesadded a new social dimension to the web. While such networks have made people, communities and groups with shared interests stay more â€Å"connected,† Internet addiction and social network addiction in particular also started being recognized as psychological disorders all over the world. While several 90†²s studies focused on Internet addiction, the next decade saw the growth of a new addiction related to all manner of social networking sites, especially the current king of the jungle: Facebook. In

Preventive Measures for Teenage Pregnancy Free Essays

There are a lot of teen mothers growing up in this world wondering, what if I would have stayed in school? What could I have become? Would it have made my life easier if I had thought first? Teens don†t think of the consequences of their actions. They don†t think that the aftermath of their irresponsibility can lead to pregnancy. Having a child comes with a lot of responsibility. We will write a custom essay sample on Preventive Measures for Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic only for you Order Now The teen doesn†t fully understand that all free time is lost, that she will have to find some may to support herself and the child, and that any of her aspirations for future plans are now drastically changed. Children take up a lot of time, which also means, no more school. If we can some how get through to them that this is what happens when you get irresponsible, it will eliminate a big portion of the problem. One of the best ways of getting the point across is to have a guest speaker that has been through a teen pregnancy before. Whether it be, the person that it actually happened to or that teens mother, which is some times even better. It all comes down to the education of the teen being the best form of prevention. The more they know about sex and it†s consequences at a young age the less likely they are to are to go out and be irresponsible about it. Teaching teens about different types of protection and how they work is some times one of the best ways of keeping the number of teen pregnancies down. Not to mention a fall in the number of teen sexually transmitted diseases. The reason why teaching about protection is good is obvious. The reason the words â€Å"some times† are underlined is because teaching them about sex some times drives a teen that normally wouldn†t have had sex till later on in there lives to think, ‘well, it seems like everyone is doing it. If it†s important enough that we must learn about it in school then I guess it†s normal.† So the argument that education is the best prevention goes both ways. On another plane, parents can help and/or hurt the situation. Every once in awhile at the dinner table or in some public place it seems that parents or even relatives are always wanting to know if you have a girlfriend yet or not. This is definitely not an extreme case but there is always that subconscious thought in the back of there heads that†s saying, I guess I should get on the ball and start looking for a mate. On the other hand, though not every parent thinks so, but their children do listen to them. Any words of advice or even telling them about your own experiences as a teen will help. Even if the parent doesn†t know much about the subject they should try to tell the teen that and a little of what they do know. That will make the child think you care and maybe think twice about their actions. Teens are not dumb and if it seems to them that you are making and honest effort and you really believe in what you are saying they will respect that and listen. There is no real solution to the teen pregnancy problem but education and teen to parent communication are good steps in the right direction. We need to let our children know that we are there for them and that we care. After all no one wants to think of what they ‘could have† become. How to cite Preventive Measures for Teenage Pregnancy, Papers

ELECTRONSRUS Management

Questions: ELECTRONSRUS is a company that designs, manufactures and sells electronic network equipment based in Wrexham. Business is so good for this HI-TEC company that they have decided to take over the old hospital which is on the other side of Wrexham about 5 miles away from their existing building. The buildings require some modification to fit in with the new plans of the company and as part of this you have been asked to provide a design to install the network infrastructureTo ensure that they do not interfere with the support of their customers during the move they have decided to install a new IT system and Computer Network in the new building before they move in. For this reason, and for the immediate future, a link to the old office will be essential.The attached sheet shows a plan of the premises. A list of the proposed use of the buildings is provided below. Further information is available from your lecturer. 1. Brief but concise description of the available technological solution s2. Compare and contrast these options3. Make a judgement as to the preferred solution for ELECTRONSRUS, justifying your choice. Answers: Requirement Analysis Introduction ELECTRONSRUS are manufacturers of electronic network equipments. They design sale their products in Wrexham,United Kingdom since long years. Because of increased business, they have expanded to include new office buildings in their company. ELECTRONSRUS hire us, for the effective and vital communication between old and new offices and within the premises of each building.We are providing Virtual local area network (VLAN) for the whole ELECTRONSRUS Company. VLAN VLAN is a virtual LAN.Say , you have connected multiple PCs to a single switch providing a private subset of LAN where computers are interacting with each other.A single switch will behave like multiple switches .Each VLAN has its own boradcast domain and IP subnet.[1] The VLAN is used to create multiple broadcast domains in a switch. For example a single CISCO catalyst switch 2970 series of 48 ports can be divided in two VLANs . VLAN 1 is craeted using 1 to 24 and VLAN 2 is created using 25to 48 .One of the special feature of VLAN technology is less hardware usage like two VLANs are created on a single switch .VLANs help in minimising traffic.To connect VLANs in network that have multiple interconnected switches, we use VLAN trunking. Cisco catalyst 2970 supports two different trunking protocols: Inter Switch Link (ISL) and IEEE 802.1q.VLAN provides physical topology independence by grouping users regardless of their physical location. For instance,a two storey building with 20 users on each floor is connected via CISCO catalyst 2970 switch with 48 ports. VLAN is bounded in logical subnet so to reach other subnet layer 3 routers are needed. All devices in same VLAN share same IP subnet and PCs connected in different VLANs are in different subnets . It helps in reducing latency by using Layer 2 devices and therefore, minimizing usage of layer 3 routers.VLAN technology is beneficial in existing practical networks.There can be port based VLAN , Mac address based VLAN and Layer -3 based VLAN.IEEE 802.1Q is a standard for VLAN and provides details of VLAN interoperions.IEEE 802.1 Q has provided standard method for implementation in Ethernet frames. Benefits Of Vlan Effective easy management of workstations Load Balancing Bandwidth Allocation Effective Securitymanagement and more security options Increased performance Simplified software configurations Reduced latency VLANs provide an easy and cheap costs infrastructure for networks. They allow easy management of large networks by enabling centralized configuration of devices. They give high performance over shared devices by reducing collisions and limiting broadcast traffic. It simplifies configuration by grouping of department resources into a single subnet. IP addresses and subnet masks configured on PCs will be in same subnet for same VLAN. Figure 1:Network diagram for VLAN configuration Customer Requirements Installation of IT system and computer network in new building. All admin,design, manufacturing plant and store should be connectedto reliable network. A network link must be provided to connect old and new offices of ELECTRONSUS. Site Map And Details Figure 2 :New site for ELECTRONSRUS Site Description: Administration office: The administration office is a threestorey building and is going to be used for various departments. Top Floor = Management and directors sittings. Total member at floor = 60 members Middle Floor = Human resource purchasing department personnels Total member at floor = 60 members Ground Floor = IT Staff Total member at floor = 60 members Design office: This is a 2storey building and is going to be usedin various departments. Top Floor = Engineering design staff Total member at floor = 150members Ground Floor = Sales Marketing Total member at floor = 75 members Stores office: The Stores is where all the components for the manufacturing are kept along with the completed equipment ready for dispatching. It is a fourstorey building with approximately five members of staff on each floor. Top Floor = Store Staff Total member at floor = 5 members Second Floor = Store Staff Total member at floor = 5 members First Floor = Store Staff Total member at floor = 5 members Ground Floor = Store Staff Total member at floor = 5 members Manufacturing Plant: This is where the equipment is manufactured. It is a single storey building where about 120 production operatives will work. They are many different areas in this building since there are lots of different tasks that need to be performed. It includes a Machine shop where there are heavy electrical cutting machines and Arc welders. There is also a test bay where all the equipment is thoroughly tested before being shipped. The offices are for the Area managers. External Access It must be possible to have the following External access:- General Internet access Access to Suppliers Network Access to Suppliers to restricted part of ELECTRONSRUS Intranet Access for Sales Marketing staff to the ELECTRONSRUS Intranet when they are remote from the site Network Topology The most mainstream designs, or topologies, incorporate the token ring, bus, point to point, star topologies. Basic Topologies BUS With a bus design, every node/hub is joined consecutively along the system backbone. A node/hub is any equipment associated with the system, for example, a printer, scanner or PC. Backbone is the term used to portray the primary links to which the system fragments are joined. At the point when one node/hub sends data to another node/hub through the system, the data goes along the backbone until it achieves the wanted accepting node/hub. Token Ring With a ring arrangement, every node/hub is joined successively along the system backbone. Be that as it may, not at all like the bus arrangement, the end of the network associate with the first node/hub, resulting in a circuit. Node/hubs on a token ring alternate sending and getting data. In the token ring topology, a token goes along the backbone with the data being sent. The node/hub with the token sends data to the following node/hub along the backbone. The getting node/hub peruses the data tended to it and afterward passes the token and any extra data to the following node/hub. This proceeds until the token and information make it back to the first node/hub in the system. Star With a star design, every node/hub is joined with a focal center point by means of system sections. At the point when one node/hub sends data to another node/hub, the data goes through the hub. The hub does not channel or course the data in any capacity; it just serves as a connector between system sections. Point-To-Point Point-to-point topology is the least complex of all the system topologies. The system comprises of an immediate connection between two PCs. This is quicker and more solid than different sorts of associations since there is an immediate association. The impediment is that it must be utilized for little zones where PCs are in close vicinity. VLAN Segmentation A VLAN is a switched network that is segmented logically by departments of an organization or applications. A VLAN creates broadcast domain defined set of switches. VLAN consists of end systems, switches, and routers. VLANs are created to provide the segmentation services.It address scalability, security and network management. Routers in VLAN topologies provide broadcast filtering, security, address summarization traffic flow management. [4] VLANs technology divides broadcast domains in different VLANs. So that packets are switched between ports designated to the VLAN range. Communication Between VLANS CiscoIOS software (switches and router OS) provides full-feature routing at Layer 3 and translation at Layer 2 between VLAN.Five protocol are mainly used: [4] IEEE 802.10 Protocol IEEE 802.1Q protocol Inter Switch LinkProtocol ATM LANE Protocol ATM LANE Fast Simple Server Replication Protocol Electronsrus Detailed Networktopology Admin office, manufacturing, store and design office routers are connected. Admin office is connected via the internet cloud, and its fixed line will be leased theline by the service provider. To connect old building/office ip sec tunnel is used. Design building router is used for back up lease line by service provider. Multiple switches are used in topology with 48, 24 0r 8 ports. There will be free ports in every vlan , so that in the future there can be enhancements. Ip Addresses And Subnet Mask For Each VLAN New Buildings premises Floor Members IP address Subnet IP address range Name of the Vlan First 60 192.168.0.0/26 192.168.0.0- 192.168.0.62 Vlan_admin_First Second 60 192.168.1.0/26 192.168.1.0- 192.168.1.62 Vlan_admin_Second Third 60 192.168.2.0/26 192.168.2.0- 192.168.2.62 Vlan_admin_Third Design Building Engineering design Top 150 192.168.5.0/25 192.168.5.1-192.168.5.126 Vlan_design_Top Sales and Marketing Ground 75 192.168.5.128/25 192.168.5.129- 192.168.5.254 Vlan_design_Ground Stores building First 5 192.168.7.0/28 192.168.7.1-192.168.7.14 Vlan_Stores_First Second 5 192.168.8.0/28 192.168.8.1-192.168.8.14 Vlan_Stores_Second Third 5 192.168.9.0/28 192.168.9.1-192.168.9.14 Vlan_Stores_Third Manufacturing Plant Ground 120 192.168.10.0/25 192.168.10.1-192.168.10.126 Vlan_manf_Ground Hardwar Requirements Hardware Repeaters At the point when Ethernet was initially implemented, a great many people utilized a copper coaxial link. Notwithstanding, the most extreme length of this link was 500 meters, which was not sufficiently long for a few systems. To address this issue, system designers utilized repeaters to join a few Ethernet portions. Bridges Bridges give a Transparent ways to joining LANs. A bridge is a gadget that join physically isolated LAN fragments, (for example, diverse Ethernet links) into one legitimate LAN section. There are four classifications of bridges: source routing, Transparent, translating, and encapsulating. Transparent extensions are utilized for Ethernet, though source routing bridges are utilized for token ring systems. Encapsulating extensions unite two fragments of the same media, (for example, token ring to token ring) more than a medium. The accepting extension takes out the envelope, checks the destination, and sends the casing to the destination gadget. Routers LAN fragments joined by a switch are physically and intelligently separate systems. Rather than a bridge, when different system sections are joined by a switch they keep up their different legitimate identities (system location space), yet constitute an internetwork. Switches determine the destination and course for every bundle, and they can be utilized to direct bundles and interconnect a mixed bag of system architectures. A noteworthy contrast between an extension and a switch is that the bridge recognizes bundles by source and destination address, though a switch can likewise recognize parcels by convention sort. Switches accommodate the interfaces to WANs. Switches Ethernet communicates over the system utilizing the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) process. A convention utilizing CSMA/CD screens, or listens to, the media for system movement, or data going through the system starting with one hub then onto the next. In the event that a hub does not sense any activity, it will send casings or bundles of data onto the media. A system edge is similar to a sent letter. The letter is put in an envelope that has an arrival location and the location of its destination. Information are similar to the letter and the casing is similar to the envelope. The information is put in the edge and the casing has the tending to data and lapse checking code Hardware Requirements In Design There are many vendors of network devices like Allied Telesis, Arista , Avaya , Brocade , Cisco , Dell , D-Link ,Draytek , Enterasys Secure Networks , Extreme Networks ,Fortinet, HP, Juniper Networks ,Net gear , Transition Networks and Zyxel. But, CISCO is one of the leaders in networking solutions and provides a wide variety of switches from SMB to enterprise and ISP provider networks.Cisco peripherals are alittle bit costly, but they are known in themarket for their customer support. We are opting for Cisco peripherals. Designing Guidelines: Ideally thenetwork should be designed hierarchically in 3 layers (Access, Aggregation, and Core) but looking at the requirements I am proposing following guidelines: Each building will have its layer twoswitches where they do would be isolated using VLANS. Vlanbe restricted Broadcast domain. We will call It as Access Layer Private IPv4 Subnets would be assigned based on number of members per floor. We can go for IPv6 addressing, but that would make the migration cumbersome as of now. We can plan for Migration to IPV6 if required once everyone is migrated to anew network Aggregate traffic of these switches will be uplink to Core/Aggregate router that in our case would be one. Each building would be connected to each other using Core router We can have redundancy by having multiple Core routers as well Layer 2 Switch, but this would depend on customer investment and criticality both of which is still unclear. Leased line would be purchased from Service provider and will be connected to any building core router that would act as a gateway. We can have back up leased line as well from other service provider, but that would again depend on customer BCP. Core router would be required to do NATTING in case of IPV4 address to access the internet as private range is not routable on internet Design For Electronsrus Network VLANs are available on the CISCO Catalyst 6000 running CatOS 5.4 or later, on the Catalyst 4000, 2980G, 2980G-A, 2948G, and 4912G running CatOS 6.2 or later. We are opting for CISCO Catalyst 2970 series. CISCO catalyst is layer 2 Series Switch used for Access connectivity in VLANs. I am selecting Cisco hardware as Cisco is known for its customer support as well as they keep bringing latest features on their products as and when required. These series switches have features like QOS, STP, etc. which can be required in the network as anetwork grows. There are vendors Like Alcatel Lucent, Summit, Juniper that offer similar hardware required for the network, but I am going in with Cisco Hardware. Configuration The following two configurations comprise the Cisco Catalyst 2970 Series: Cisco Catalyst 2970G-24TS-24 Ethernet 10/100/1000 ports and four small form-factor pluggable (SFP) ports Cisco Catalyst2970G-24T-24Ethernet 10/100/1000 ports Cisco catalyst 2970m series comes with Cisco Enhanced Image (EI) IOSSoftware .CISCO catalyst suports IGMP leave timer ,IGMP snooping querier,DSCP transparency , VLAN-based QoS1and hierarchical policy maps on SVIs , Device Manager ,SSL Version 3.0,IEEE 802.1x, Flex Links , SFP module diagnostic management ,Smart ports Macros. [3] Hardware used Cisco catalyst 2970 series switches around 15 or more Router 2900 series around 3 in quantity. Connectors and cables 10BASE-T ports: RJ-45 connectors , 100BASE-TX ports: RJ-45 connectors 1000BASE-T ports: RJ-45 connectors, 1000BASE-T SFP-based ports: RJ-45 connectors[3] 100BASE-TX ports: RJ-45 connectors 2-pair Category 3, 4, or 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cabling 2-pair Category 5 UTP cabling 1000BASE-SX, -LX/LH, -ZX, and CWDM SFP-based ports: LC fiber connectors (single-mode or multimode fiber)[3] Management console port: RJ-45-to-DB9 cable for PC connections[3] Power connector RPS 675 Internal power supply connector Environmental conditions Operating temperature:32 to 113F (0 to 45C)[3] Storage temperature: -13 to 158F (-25 to 70C)[3] Operating relative humidity: 10 to 85 percent (noncondensing)[3] Operating altitude: Up to 10,000 ft (3049 m)[3] Storage altitude: Up to 15,000 ft (4573 m) [3] Contempora 4(C4) Series Rack cabinet system Linux windows servers For VOIP Connectivity , require IP phones For Security , surveillance cameras(CCTV) Biometrics , card punching system Centralized Air conditioning Software Requirements Lan Software/ Operating System As the name suggest LAN operating system is required to operate on the LAN system, manage the tremendous work load with a number of various types of server attached to it. It has basically two aspects (i) Server Software (ii) Work station Software. As case of other multi user operating system, LAN operating system also facilitate the sharing of expensive resources such as printer, storage space etc. among all LAN users, provides security of data permits connections to other network. There are various types of LAN operating systems for example Novel Netware, LAN server, omni met, PC Net, IBM PC LAN, Etherlik plus etc. Catalyst 2970 G-24T uses Cisco IOS Release 12.2(18)SE Catalyst 2970 G-24TS uses Cisco IOS Release 12.2(18)SE Supported windows 98,NT 4.0 , 2000 XP 7 Supported Microsoft internet explorer 5.5,6.0,7.0. Supported Microsoft Netscape Navigator 7.1 2970 Supports IGMP leave timer ,IGMP snooping querier,DSCP transparency , VLAN-based QoS1and hierarchical policy maps on SVIs , Device Manager ,SSL Version 3.0,IEEE 802.1x, Flex Links , SFP module diagnostic management ,Smartports Macros. Cisco IOS software release 15.0. All the above requirements, can be altered after any discussion with IT Team of ELECTRONSRUS. Internet Connection Internet Connection Internet connection or broadband can be taken from any SERVICE PROVIDER like reliance,airtel, Vodafone etc. I suggest following connections: BroadBand Connections: It is a high speed internet connection. User can dial phone and remain connected on internet at the same time.With broadband , users can watch live news and sports. Fixed Broadband Connections: There is wireless or fixed modem in this connection. Fixed Wireless and satellite connections: In some countries, in remote areas fixed wireless connection or a satellite connections are provided. Remote Access Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is an authoritative method for building applications like client/server based, distributed etc. The Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) method is a model of high-level interactions for various applications in the network. RPC is a dominant method for building applications based on client/server or distributed networks. It is base on enlarging the idea of predictable or local calling procedure, in such a way that the procedure called not required to exist near the similar address space just like the procedure of calling. The two procedures can be on the same system, or rather can have dissimilar systems and are connected using a network. By means of RPC, agenda on platform of networking can interact with resources like remote and local. RPC permits the use of particular kinds of calling procedures that are designed to conceal the underlying mechanisms on which network is working in a network application. The complication concerned in the expansion of distributed doling out is decreased by maintaining the remote call semantics whether the same or different the server and client are using the same system. This feature of transport autonomy of RPC cuts off the elements of physical and logical layer application from the layer of data communications method and gives the flexibility to the application for a diversity of transports applications. Remote procedure call (RPC), exactly, permits you to call up a course of action on both a local and a remote machine evidently. A call of client is interpreted into a remote machine call Client Remote File SystemWrite (hello); Server File SystemWrite (Hello); RPC is executed on above layer of two-way messaging by means of a procedure stubs available on the client as well as server. The procedure stubs just offers the interface of invocation for programmers. The real applications of those actions are described remotely. Basically the client stub has following tasks at hand: Marshalling or Building messages Sending messages Response wait Unpack reply Return result The server stub has following tasks at hand: Do N threading in order to wait for the requests Loop: For some time just look for command Upon receiving command perform decoding and unpacking of request parameters, this is also called as unmarshalling Now next step is procedure call Using results obtained build message for replay Now finally send reply Implementation Issues The stubs are repeatedly produced. A client has no clue about which port is for communication because this is runtime. Consequently, the client requests to have an already known port for moreover a server or a process name server that decides which server to get in touch with. Features RPC acts as a local host but Mask remote function calls The RPC is a Client-server based model message passing is the basic way for Request to reply paradigm in remote procedure call Functions uses methods like message passing and using function parameters it returns value Properties of RPC The Remote procedure call do function call based on the pattern of Language-level The Remote procedure call is quite simple for any programmer to understand There is a Synchronous method for request and reply communication between host and client It has no specific choice for any programming language and hence language neutral Before forwarding a reply to any request, it do matches the corresponding port for that requests There is automatic matching for replies and requests It posses Distribution transparency which put out of sight the complication of a distributed system and gives quality assurance Failure Modes of RPC Sometimes there can be failure in the system due to semantics of Invocation hold up by RPC due to some congestion in network or server, congestion in client network or last due to server failure Disadvantages of RPC One disadvantage is the way of interaction that is it uses Synchronous interaction for the request and replies hence more chance of connection loss etc. Client and server are closely coupled and have direct effect on each other. In some scenarios the client might block the process for a quite long time in case loading of server directs to client with multi-threaded programming Some clients are slow or failed to reply due to network problem or other which delays the reply to the server There must be multi-threading at the server interface because generally it has more than 1 client Distribution Transparency is not probable to mask all troubles RPC model is not object-oriented and hence duplication cannot be avoided The above factor leads to invocation of servers functions rather than using objects to call methods, which just store references and hence avoid all loading at invocation. Remote Access In Network Application Through IP sec tunnel old and new office buildings are connected. IP SEC TUNNEL MODE IPSec tunnel mode is thedefault mode. With tunnel mode, the entire original IP packet is protected by IPSec. This means IPSec wraps the original packet, encrypts it, adds a new IP header and sends it to the other side of the VPN tunnel (IPSec peer).[5] Tunnel modeis most commonly used between gateways (Cisco routers or ASA firewalls), or at an end-station to a gateway, the gateway acting as a proxy for the hosts behind it.[5] Security And Network Management Security Information and computer security is a task of software team. We concern here for physical security. Physical security faces different threats of environment, political, natural as compared to computer and information security. The threats are classified as: Natural Calamity threats: Catastrophe, Floods, earthquakes, storms and tornadoes, fires, extreme temperature conditions and so forth. System threats:Power supply issues, voltage issues, temperature issues so forth. Man interference threats: Unauthorized access, hijack attack, spoof attack so on. Politically motivated threats:Strikes and riots in the city, civil disobedienceand so forth. security and network management measures Develop security team. Develop proper plan. Do risk analysis management. Entries in critical data center rooms should be limited Proper pathways around building to guide to main entrance Back door entries should be limited to suppliers and equipment deliveries. Pathways should have proper lighting to guide people in night. Do natural surveillance sometimes Deploy electronic motion sensors There should be continuous video surveillance Biometric access and exit sensors for critical areas like data center UPS backup generators ,gas based fire suppression system Server monitoring Redundant HVAC controlled environments Proper fencing IP support for devices such as switches and routers Effective Fencing near building Proper web access management Proper password management on devices Back up of data every day. References : Difference between VLAN and LAN.[online]. Available:https://www.differencebetween.net/technology/internet/difference-between-vlan-and-lan/.[Accessed: July 19, 2011]. Vlan configuration examples[online]. Available:https://www.h3c.com/portal/Technical_Support___Documents/Technical_Documents/Switches/H3C_S3100_Series_Switches/Configuration/Typical_Configuration_Example/Low-end_E_S_Configuration_Examples(V1.04)/200809/616200_1285_0.htm. Cisco catalyst 2970 series switches[online]. Available: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-2970-series-switches/product_data_sheet09186a0080197384.html. Routing between VLANs overview[online]. Available:https://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/lanswitch/configuration/guide/lsw_rtng_vlan_ovw_ps6350_TSD_Products_Configuration_Guide_Chapter.html Understanding VPN IPSEC TUNNEL mode and IPSEC TRANSPORT MODE[online]. Available: https://www.firewall.cx/networking-topics/protocols/870-ipsec-modes.html

Northern Rock Risk Management Essay Example

Northern Rock: Risk Management Essay Northern Rock plc Risk Management Home Assignment Northern Rock plc Risk Management Home Assignment Authors: Serghei Leahu Alexandru Mangir Mihail Mavrin Seminar leader: Herbert Windsor Authors: Serghei Leahu Alexandru Mangir Mihail Mavrin Seminar leader: Herbert Windsor Table of Contents Executive summary2 Economic and financial environment description3 Causes and circumstances of incurred losses5 Errors by the organisation8 Errors by internal and external supervising authorities10 The internal authorities10 The external authorities10 Effects on other commercial organisations12 Conclusions14 References15 Executive summary According to the House of Common’s Treasury Committee’s Fifth Report of Session 2007-08 â€Å"The run on the Rock†, on the evening of Thursday 13 September 2007 at 8. 30 PM the BBC announced that Northern Rock plc had asked for and received emergency financial support from the Bank of England. The terms of the funding facility were finalised in the early hours of Friday 14 September and announced at 7. 00 AM that day. That day, long queues began to form outside some of Northern Rock’s branches; later, its website collapsed and its phone lines were reported to be jammed. The first bank run in the United Kingdom since Victorian times was underway. The purpose of this home assignment is to critically discuss the Northern Rock plc bank run from a faulty risk management perspective. We seek to examine what were the causes of the collapse of Britain’s fifth largest mortgage lender, associated consequences for both the bank and other financial institutions (both domestic and international), the way authorities coped with this event and possible lessons to be drawn about proper and improper risk management. Economic and financial environment description We will write a custom essay sample on Northern Rock: Risk Management specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Northern Rock: Risk Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Northern Rock: Risk Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer For a better understanding of the details of risk management problems that engulfed Northern Rock plc, it is of vital importance to first and foremost take a look at the financial environment during the period of the loss. Real GDP growth projections as of 4 April 2007 Country/Region| 2006| 2007| 2008| United States| 3,25| 2,25| 2,5| Western Europe| 2,75| 2,5| 2,25| United Kingdom| 2,75| 2,75| 2,5| Other West Europe| 3,75| 3| 2,75| Euro area| 2,75| 2,5| 2| Emerging markets| 7,25| 6,5| 6,25| World(WEO weights)| 5,25| 4,25| 4,25| In August of 2007, the UK found itself affected by global financial chaos. Citing bank Credit Europe (2007), the liquidity crisis originated from the US subprime mortgage market. In mainland Europe, the crisis is believed to have been triggered when French based bank BNP Paribas suspended three of its investment funds that were exposed to the US markets that traded toxic assets, as reported by BBC News on 9 August 2007. As a result, share prices plummeted and banks would not continue lending to each other. So, all major central banks around the world started injecting liquidity into their domestic markets in similar attempts. The European Central Bank sought to calm the tide by reportedly pumping $130 billion in the European banking system. It sought to satisfy Eurozone liquidity demands as fast as possible, unlike the Bank of England who left UK banks claims for liquidity unsettled. The Bank of England did not follow suit and took no contingency measures in order to protect against moral hazard. Their rationalisation was that an injection would induce banks to take on more liquidity risk, resting sound knowing that the Bank of England would find a way to save them. Injecting money into economy to prevent crisis have two major risks, first one is slowing growth too much in case of trying to avoid issuing new money, and second one is that inflation pressures will rise in case of issuing too much , at the end even with a greater slowdown. Due to these risks, the bank of England did not inject money into the UK financial system. Also, behind the economic environment a large effect on any business has the political environment. Its effects are even greater during a period of critical time in financial systems where trust and confidence is very significant. In the UK for example, the financial system is regulated by the Tripartite system: the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority and the Treasury. According to Aldrick (2007), although their roles are clear, there was no overarching authority when the crisis struck, which meant that everyone was pointing fingers around, but nobody was able to take the large chunk of responsibility for reactionary measures. In retrospect, how come Northern Rock, out of all of the UK’s financial institutions, proved to be the weakest link? Why had the credit crunch affected it in such drastic fashion? Was it a victim of its own doing or were other external forces involved in the bank run? We aim to answer these questions under following headings. Causes and circumstances of incurred losses According to ex-Unilever, British Gas and KPMG manager Mike Barnato, risk is the antagonist of opportunity. No ships would ever leave port if captains wanted to avoid risks associated with sea travel. Therefore, risk must be managed in order to achieve objectives at all levels: private, corporate, state. However, the old-fashioned approach to risk management such as detect risk, measure probability, gauge effect, and identify reactions, habitually disregards broader people and strategic matters. As stated by the Financial Services Authority, liquidity risk is defined as â€Å"the risk that a firm, although balance-sheet solvent, cannot maintain or generate sufficient cash resources to meet its payment obligations in full as they fall due, or can only do so at materially disadvantageous terms. † Originally established as a building society, Northern Rock demutualised in October of 1997 and became a plc. The banks consolidated balance sheet grew no less than sixfold, as a result of a complete overhaul in its corporate strategy. According to the Treasury Committee Report (2008), CEO Mr Adam Applegarth claimed that Northern Rocks assets increase by 20% plus or minus 5% for the last 17 years. Sustainability for the high growth of assets was to come from a restructuring of its liabilities. The year 1999 marked the beginning of the so-called originate and distribute model, which involved originating or purchasing loans and transferring them to SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicle), which in turn package these loans into collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) to sell to third party investors. Approximately 50% of Northern Rocks funding (coming from securitised notes) was provided by SPV Granite, registered in Jersey. The constantly growing funding need was due to be met by means of securitising bonds using a LLP (Limited Liability Partnership), which allowed the bank to continue holding its assets and issue asset-backed securities on their basis. This was a lucrative and quite secure deal for investors. As wholesale funding dramatically increased, the proportion of retail deposits as means of funding gradually decreased, by 2006 totalling 22. 4% of total equity and liabilities as opposed to no less than 62% in 1997. It is a widely acclaimed fact that the Northern Rock crisis was caused by an verly aggressive business model, which relied mainly on wholesale market funding, rather than its own deposits. Rapid growth was understandable, because funding from deposits would nowhere near be as potentially high as wholesale funding. Nevertheless, this reliance exposed the bank to an imminent liquidity risk. UK money markets were bound to be hit by a liquidity crisis, following tension in the US as the F eds interest rate was all over the place. The first half of 2007 saw mortgage lending go up by 31% compared to the same period of 2006. Northern Rocks loan book quality was a clear sight for sore eyes, as lending quality drastically decreased. The bank was giving away mortgages left and right to customers whose credit worthiness was shady to say the least. It is no surprise that many similarities can be drawn between Northern Rocks business model and the business model of US mortgage lenders. However, surprising is the fact that Northern Rocks management apparently did not attempt to manage the obvious liquidity and operational risks having examples of mortgage lenders over the Atlantic that were clearly pushing the envelope. According to the Treasury Committee Report (2008), on 9 August 2007 it became crystal clear that Northern Rock would face severe problems if the money markets continued to be frozen as they were. It was on that day that the banks traders noted a dislocation in the market for its funding. This was the effect of a global financial system shock triggered by the US subprime mortgage market. While this shock was originally credit based and it did not directly expose Northern Rock to the dreaded liquidity risk, its effects questioned the value of asset-backed securities and related products held by large financial institutions around the world. Overall market liquidity was very shaky due to the fact that holders of asset-backed securities did not have information regarding loan quality and default rates, to which originators of these securities did have access, so the funding of these financial instruments became problematic. As Northern Rock was running low on cash since its last securitisation in May and another one was due in September at the earliest, the liquidity freeze hit the bank with disastrously poor timing. Even so, better timing would not have saved it from trouble, due to the prolonged duration of this drying up of money markets. Northern Rocks business model was unique in the sense that the central part of its business strategy was securitisation. The bank relied heavily on short-term funds, while as most banks opt for marginal securitisation of assets. In addition, a property of this aggressive model is that it exposes a bank to the so-called LPHI risk (low probability-high impact). In essence, the low probability is derived from the fact that the drying up of money and capital markets on a large scale is improbable. The high impact relates to the almost exclusive reliance on high liquidity for the bank to be able to fund its operations. According to David Llewellyn, citing his work The Northern Rock Crisis: A Multi-dimensional Problem, in the context of Northern Rock, the LPHI risk is composed of three micro risks: a) the risk of the bank being unable to re-receive funds that reached maturity, (b) the risk of being unable to securitise the planned mortgages, (c) the cost of funding would rise relative to the mortgage loans it kept on its balance sheet. A pivotal role in the subsequent events linked to Northern Rocks failure was the run on deposits which equalled about ? billion, dubbed The run on the Rock by the media, which took place from Friday 14 September to Monday 17 September. Once the run had begun, two factors kept its momentum: a) depositors were becoming more and more aware of the fact that Northern Rock would cease to be a going concern, were the run to continue; (b) deposits above ? 2,000 were not guaranteed in full to customers, which dramatically increased the awareness of a large amount of depositors that previously were not in touch with the shocking scale of their potential losses. As a result, the Bank of England had to implement an immediate emergency facility programme for the bank, which was previously considered as a backstop, rather than a reactionary safety net. Naturally, customers acted completely rationally and logically seeking to save their deposits by joining in on the run having heard about the distress of their bank on the news. This psychological factor shifted the issue from being one of the Northern Rock customers to a rather large scale crisis that affected any persons belief in the banking system. As a result, the following months saw the Government discussing takeover offers from various companies, notably Virgin Group, Olivant, JC Flowers, Lloyds TSB. However, according to an announcement by Northern Rock, all the bids were rejected, because they were materially below the previous trading value. As such, according to Elliot, Seager and Inman (2007), the Government arranged an emergency legislation to nationalise the bank, in the event that takeover bids fail. On 17 February 2008, following unsuccessful bids to take over Northern Rock, Mr Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that the bank was to be nationalised, as mentioned by BBC (2008). Errors by the organisation â€Å"Northern Rocks risk management framework is designed to maintain and continually improve the established processes and tools for the identification, assessment, control and monitoring of existing and future risks. Northern Rocks approach provides a mechanism for the active identification, assessment and communication of risks throughout the business†. Northern Rock Community Report (2006) We will soon come to prove that the above statement is completely false. First and foremost, it must be noted that the Board and management team of Northern Rock rightfully took a large chunk of blame for their irresponsible and incompetent actions. In the chase for rapid growth and profits through securitisation, they clearly missed out on a basic principle of risk management which is the diversification (spreading) of risk. While Northern Rocks management and Board clearly placed all of their eggs in one basket, it was obvious that should an improbable (although completely unavoidable) liquidity shock hit the UK markets, theyd be in head spinning trouble. The bank had a proper approach to risk management. It covered liquidity, credit, operational and market risk, which were described in detail in its filing for the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Northern Rocks assets were looking strong, therefore credit risk was insignificant. In terms of market risk, FOREX and interest rate fluctuation exposures were managed properly Nonetheless, its management clearly did not take into consideration the fact that if the access to short-term funding was impeded, it would end up facing a huge liquidity crisis. Therefore, as the US sub-prime mortgage crisis (mortgage backed securities were the meat of Northern Rocks funding) unravelled, the bank became exposed to liquidity risk. In addition, the management apparently did not have a plan B to funds its activities in case the money markets dried up – an operational risk. The Tripartite authorities might be frowned up as being short-sighted in respect to the Northern Rock case. However, the banks CEO, Mr Applegarth, and his Board are the ones responsible of failure to identify the risks associated with their aggressive and reckless business model, or for being foolish enough to indeed identify the risks, but deciding to ignore them, in hopes that bad luck would strike elsewhere. The need to balance risk appetite and return is a basic business principle, however risk must be managed consciously, continuously and actively. Steve Boyle, in his article Avoiding the next Northern Rock goes so say that it is important to note that although the contemporary business model (coupled with legal frameworks and regulators) encourages companies to ignore inconvenient truths, ultimately the companies themselves are to blame for their failure to handle their risk appetite. It is surprising to find out that CEO Mr Applegarth did not respond to the Bank of Englands interest rate increase in any reasonable way. Liquidity conditions were tightening up on a global scale for a fair amount of time and although these were not drastic enough to raise a panic, the bare minimum questions How are we prepared for this? Are we at all prepared? should have been raised. Despite obvious indicators of an unstable interest rate environment, Northern Rock continued giving out mortgages for 125% of house valuation, paying little to no respect to risk management. Did Mr Adam Applegarth even want to see the impending funding shrinkage? Probably, by sitting down and giving it an objective though he would spot the effect of rising interest rates on the UK financial markets. As stated in the Treasury Committee Report (2008), Northern Rock’s continued expansionary lending policy required the continued success of its funding strategy at a time when there were indications of potential problems on the funding side. Although the Bank of England was keen to identify the potential risk of wholesale funding for banks should the money markets lose its liquidity, the managers at Northern Rock did not heed this warning. The reliance on short and medium term funding was not met with any kind of standby facility, leaving liquidity risk completely uninsured. This high risk, reckless strategy was formulated by the Board and overseen by long serving directors. Yet, it was not met with any kind of restraining from the Chairman of the Board, Chairman of the Risk Committee, internal audit staff, which is at the very least surprising. In reality, the Board and management kept ploughing at their reckless business model, believing that standby facilities are a waste of money. Errors by internal and external supervising authorities The internal authorities One cannot detach internal control from corporate governance, because it is the Boards responsibility to monitor significant risks and to ensure that internal controls are effectively involved in their proper evaluation and handling, but most importantly the Board must always induce internal controls to be cautious while dealing with risk because of their ever elusive nature. It is quite a possibility that Northern Rocks internal controls were not up to par and were giving out the rest of the company completely the wrong message. As stated in an article on cimaglobal. com, Northern Rocks filings to the SEC give the impression that its main concern was regulatory conformance, rather than its overall control environment. According to the Treasury Committee Report (2008), part of the oversight of the liquidity strategy of Northern Rock was conducted by its Risk Committee, chaired at the time by Sir Derek Wanless, a non-executive member of the Board of Northern Rock. Sir Derek Wanless is reported to have said that the Risk Committee looked at the issues of [their] funding strategy and what the risks were†. He went on to defend the role of the Board and the Risk Committee, telling the Treasury Committee that â€Å"The Risk Committee and the Board did [their] job, in my view, properly through this period. The external authorities The external regulation of Northern Rock plc was conducted by the Financial Services Authority spanning from 2005 to 2007. Its handling of the events of August-September 2007 received wide criticism. In the following paragraphs we aim to describe the poor regulation of Northern Rock that went hand in hand with mismanagement that ultimately led to its collapse. Citing the Treasury Committee Report (2008) on Northern Rocks failure entitled The run on the Rock, London School of Economics Professor Willem H. Buiter was found stating that â€Å"The FSA did not properly supervise Northern Rock. It failed to recognise the risk attached to Northern Rock’s funding model. Stress testing was inadequate. † According to an IMF working paper, a stress test is termed as the revaluation of a portfolio using different sets of assumptions, the goal of which is to assess the sensitivity of the portfolio to changes in various risk factors. It is curious to find out that while the FSA had been highly unsatisfied with Northern Rocks stress testing procedures; it did not notify the banks management team to immediately adjust these procedures. In addition, while the Board did continue to conduct stress testing, their methods were inadequate and the Financial Services Authority failed in its duty to guide the Board towards ensuring that the bank was ready to handle a market shock. A prime indicator of running a big risk financial plan is rapid expansion. The FSA had acknowledged obvious red flags concerning the banks rapid market share expansion, as well as decreases in share price from February 2007 which translated into Northern Rocks extremely risky business model. Yet, the regulator merely underwent into a greater regulatory engagement, which pretty much failed to target the root weakness – the funding model. As mentioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer quoted in the Treasury Committee Report (2008), the FSA did not deem liquidity regulation as important as solvency regulation. It brings up the question whether the FSA is actually competent of handling liquidity related shocks at all. We believe that this was a substantial failure in regulation, which eventually no less than fuelled the forthcoming chain of events. An increase of 30. 3% of Northern Rocks interim dividend was made public on 25 July 2007. This was the result of, as CEO Mr Adam Applegarth put it when you get your Basel II approval, the relative risk weighting of certain assets in your balance sheet changes [†¦] our risk weighting for residential mortgages came down from 50% to 15%, which clearly requires less capital behind it, which explains the increased dividend. Unfortunately, we are of the same opinion as the Treasury Committee Report (2008), which notes that this approval came at the most untimely moments. In doing so, the FSA allowed Northern Rock to singlehandedly weaken their own balance sheet at a time when the FSA was itself battling liquidity problems in the financial sector. The support operation announcement by the Tripartite authorities was apparently to be treated with great delicacy, because they were aware that it might have the complete opposite effect than calming the depositors. We, the authors, believe that the authorities acted extremely rashly in the whole process of stating the Government guarantee of supporting Northern Rock through its crisis. They failed to plan the announcement prior to 16 September 2007. It is also worrisome that the announcement was not made before the markets opened the following day. This led to a delay in the guarantee until the evening of the fourth day after the run started, which made the bank run even more prolonged and severely damaged the already whimpering health of the bank. Yet another area of concern is that the Financial Services Authority completely overlooked the fact that Northern Rocks CEO was not a qualified banker, albeit he possessed significant work experience. Mr Adam Applegarth did not have any training qualification and as such, this absence ought to raise major question marks. To sum up, Northern Rocks failure was not entirely the fault of its management; it was also the fault of its regulator, the Financial Services Authority. Evidently, sufficient resources were not assigned to the watching of a banks business model that was so obviously screaming Look at me! Moreover, the FSA did not seem to give the air of confidence of a supervising authority that knew how to handle a particular financial institution rather than targeting an aggregate group. Effects on other commercial organisations It was on the 9th of August when the world changed. Adam Applegarth, Northern Rock plc CEO The effect of Northern Rock crisis spread shockwaves all around the financial markets and most importantly to the UK, adding an unexpected swing to an already unstable financial situation that could go from bad to worse in an instant. As said before, on 9 August 2007 money markets froze and the short-term funding that Northern Rock so heavily relied upon (it made up roughly 60% of the right side of its balance sheet) squeezed considerably. The Northern Rock crisis was a signal which raised awareness of other banks with a similarly risky business model on upcoming problems and showed the need to concentrate on actively managing liquidity and operational risk. In the midst of the crisis, it was evident that banks became reluctant to ask the Bank of England for liquidity facilities, because it might have been treated as Northern Rock clones. Furthermore, such facilities were obviously not going to be offered in a confidential manner. Even if the Bank of England did keep things hushed, word would spread anyway and a simple case of extra liquidity claim would cause devastating panic. The Newcastle-upon-Tyne based bank was the first of its kind, the first in a notable list of banks that were nationalised during the crisis that took the United Kingdom by storm. Next on the list came Bradford and Bingley, Heritable Bank and Kaupthing Edge which were all also nationalised. The nationalisation of Northern Rock increased national debt by an additional ? 00 billion, which was due to be settled by no later than June-July of 2010. In addition, The Bank of England pledged to pay off Northern Rocks debts consisting of the following: * loans (approximately ? 25 billion ) * guarantees (approximately ? 30  billion) * value of company (approximately ? 1 billion) Another consequence of this failure was that Northern Rock was responsible for about one fifth of all mortgage business. With its collapse and also in close cooperation with the overall mortgage crisis, it struck individuals at the heart of their fears – uncertainty. At least 2,000 employees were dismissed as a result of the collapse, even if Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of the Development Agency stated that there was a demand in qualified Northern Rock bank workers and that there was a big chance of a slight increase in unemployment level. Also, hedge funds and investment banks were also affected, workers seeing their spending power reduced by lower bonuses, or even curtailed by job losses. Finally, the cuts are a blow for job prospects in north-east England where Northern Rock was one of the biggest employers. Lloyds TSB was keen on helping Northern Rock reduce the size of its balance sheet, in a deal that would allow some Northern Rock customers to receive new mortgages at the end of their fixed-rates. A Forbes article (2008) mentions that customers would be exempt from the standard lenders application fee and Lloyds would pay a commission fee to Northern Rock for every successful mortgage deal (the maximum loan-to-value ratio being 80%). As such, Lloyds took advantage of the Newcastle based banks troubles in a lucrative deal for more or less both parties. The case of Northern Rock revealed a problem with the FSAs handling of liquidity based crises. A new assembly of supervisors to review supervision of high impact firms such as Northern Rock was employed. In addition, staffing and training increased to not allow such incidents to affect public opinion so drastically, because a portion of it was clearly unsatisfied with the FSAs role in the debacle. As suggested by internal auditors, high-impact firms would be reviewed annually and their performance checked every six months. Furthermore, the Financial Services Authority would concentrate a larger part of its time and effort to be prepared to react to future liquidity shocks. On 24 May 2008 Legal amp; General, SRM Global, RAB Capital and the Shareholders Action Group (150,000 of the banks small investors) joined forces in the legal action against the Government after the nationalisation announcement. As written by Sean Farrell for the Independent (2008), shareholders believe that the Bank of England rigged the process for compensating Northern Rocks investors, because a sovereign valuator must accept that the bank was not a going concern. Lamp;G wished to see to that share valuation would be conducted on an impartial basis, without the dogmatic conventions enforced by the Treasury. According to Simon Evans (2008), at the end of July 2008 the valuation of Northern Rock would be delegated to 2 of 10 firms that applied, in spite of threats of legal repercussions. Monaco based hedge fund SRM Global stated that a negligence case of high stature would be opened on anyone that would partake in the role of valuing the poisoned chalice, considering that the hedge fund owned shares in value of 11% at Northern Rock before its nationalisation. Unsurprisingly, few forms expressed their interest in the valuation process, because the Treasury had imposed a number of restrictions for potential valuators. Northern Rock was a just a drop in the ocean of the financial peril that followed. The difficulty for the financial markets and ordinary people was that at that point nobody knew where thunder would strike next and who would be its next victim. Conclusions At present, business at Northern Rock plc is looking quite optimistic. It is known that the restructuring of the bank and the overhaul of the boardroom paved the road for a future re-entry into the commercial banking sector with a new formula for success. Also, a new debt reduction strategy was adopted, with the bank repaying its loans well ahead of maturity, with a little under ? 9 billion remaining to be paid as at 9 March 2009. Based on the above discussion, several key lessons can be learned such as that companies ought to move beyond box ticking by sacrificing performance for conformance. Also, risk management is absolutely essential to undertake in todays constantly changing financial environment where anything can happen at any time. As for the institutions delegated to supervise, we would like to stress a few recommendations: * liquidity assistance arrangements must be timely and inspire confidence * external supervisors such as the FSA must have a solid plan of corrective action * legal framework must exist in order to prevent the collapse of a bank that is enduring troubles with departments or functions of systemic importance

Analysis of a Public Firm GoPro Essays

Analysis of a Public Firm GoPro Essays Analysis of a Public Firm GoPro Paper Analysis of a Public Firm GoPro Paper Capitalizing on traditional advertising, content marketing and social media, GOP built a ritualistic fan base in sports enthusiasts, professional athletes, and media production professionals. Goops professional line of wearable and mountable cameras are now becoming the most used camera in the market today, making it one of the most innovative and successful cameras in the world. An evaluation of the companys internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats paints a nice picture of where GOP is and where GOP could be at as a company. Some of the greatest design features of the GOP are the size, durability, and recitalist of the camera and the outer protective casing enabling it to be worn and carried virtually anywhere. GOP focuses on outperforming its competition while at the same time capitalizing on the quality of their product. Goops advertising and brand promotion has successfully targeted and acquired professional attention from a multitude of industry leaders. However, these past marketing strategies left a large portion of the average consumer Feb. ND. With timing being the essence of success, GOP recently filed for and initial public offering set in the second quarter of 2014. The timing of this PIP creates a crucial opportunity to transition the average consumer into a GOP user and acquire more market share. New advertising messages and integrated brand promotions will be utilized to target the travel, leisure and recreation sectors. External Environment A. Market Analysis Goops past marketing efforts have identified two solid markets. The primary market is active adults ages be;en 21 and 45 and a secondary market of teens and young adults between ages 12 and 18. Along with this age segmentation GOP has also focused its marketing towards consumers who re into extreme sport lifestyle. Additionally GOP targets consumers who tend to take two or three vacations a year. These active consumers tend to love travel, willing to document their goals, aspirations, travels and hobbies over social media. GOP loves this demographic because they seem to be easy decision-makers, brand loyal and favor quality over price. The third group which is young adults between ages 18 and 21 tend to travel with their friends on short social outings and trips that fit their hobbies and interests. This group is the highest group of social media users. This group spends on average of 29 or more hours per week online distributing and consuming media. B. Competitive Analysis Goops main competitors are Sony, Contour, and Camembert. GOP make! Up 84% of the action camera market share, following next is Sony with 7%, then Contour with 8 and Camembert with 1%. Sony is a viable competitor because its unmatched image quality. Other competitors closely match Goops design, mounting and protection of the camera. Other competitors such as the Contour feature laser alignment and GAPS tracking. These feature: are key in developing professional quality videos. The GAPS feature lets users rack and remember where videos were taken. Still GOP dominates the market because they are the most well know brand and are leading the edge of portable action cameras. GOP has a global industry scope. More than half Of all GOP sales are outside of the US. The outlook for action sports cameras in my opinion will not go out of style anytime soon and is an attractive fad for young adults. Internal Environment A. Company Profile I. History In 2002, Nicholas Woodman created the idea of the wearable camera. The evolution occurred when the camera was moved from the writs to an apparatus that can be attached to any device. GOP became the first company that solved the issue of how do you captured images and video when people are in their moments Of excitement where it is just too inconvenient to hold the camera. The key feature of GOP systems would be the outer protective shell which- has the ability to rotate upon itself, creating a durable camera that is water and shock proof and can be mounted to anything. The evolution enabled people around the world to state document their everyday lives. From sports to scientific research these innovative cameras captured it all. Ii. Employment GOP employs hundreds of people. GOP looks for independent, creative thinkers to join their team. GOP employs people in many different sectors. From firmware and hardware development to finance, legal and marketing. Go pro has a job for you. Locations of employment include San Mateo and San Francisco California, New York City, Munich Germany, Sheehan China, Hong Kong and Amsterdam Netherlands. Ii. Product Lines The first GOP was introduced to the market in 2004. The GOP camera has evolved from HAD Hero to HAD Hero 4. The new HAD Hero 4 includes key features such as ultra-high definition resolution, shooting PM photos at 30 frames per second. Goops feature super wide angle lenses that operate at extreme low lighting conditions. All Goops are light weight and are versatile and customizable. The editing software included is a powerful enough to handle your toughest footage. Iv. Quality GOP Quality is second to none.

Research methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research methods - Essay Example Contextually, enhancing and preserving customer loyalty is considered to be the key objective of CRM initiatives performed by modern day organisations, which is deeply rooted to the concept of relationship marketing. The objective of relationship marketing is to convert new customers into regular one through providing greater service quality that would generate greater sales and profits. Such an initiative can be observed apparently in the service industry, such as in the hospitality industry (Schneider & White, 2004). One of the major reasons for customer loyalty is delivering services of qualitative standards that could increase the proportion of loyal customers of the organization to a considerable extent (Arvato AG, 2013; Brink & Berndt, 2008). Another major factor identified in the modern day context of CRM initiatives adopted by hospitality organisations is service quality. Service quality, as a conceptual term, relates with the notion to provide services with due consideration to customer satisfaction by meeting their expectations with increased performances of employees (Khosrow-Pour, 2003). Emphasising on the relation between the concepts of customer loyalty, CRM and service quality, the research problem has been framed for this study. To be precise, the research problem to be considered in this study will focus on the impact of customer loyalty and service quality in 5 Star hotels in Thailand with relation to CRM initiatives taken by the hospitality organisations. 2.0. Literature and Secondary Data Many research studies have been conducted emphasising on the concepts of service quality and customer loyalty and their relationship. As stated by Rousan & et. al. (2010), customer loyalty occurs when repeated purchase in performed by the same customers. Furthermore, the willingness for loyal customers to render product/service recommendations irrespective of outright benefits and repeated usages play a vital role in generating positive and quantifiable res ults for the marketers over the long run. The economic benefits of customer loyalty can be identified as improvement in the retention of employees as well as in terms of the increasing market shares of the particular brand. It can be thus stated that customer loyalty is not simply swayed by inducing the prices from competitors but also by offering better quality services to the targeted customers in comparison to the major contemporaries of the business. It is worth mentioning in this context that a positive relationship is apparently witnessed between the two aspects of service quality and service loyalty (Rousan & et. al., 2010). As can be observed from Rousan & et. al. (2010), service quality deliverance capability of an organisation can be effectively identified with due significance to the behavioural results particularly in form of complaints registered by the customers, probability of effective word of mouth promotion spontaneously by the targeted customers, switching costs a nd frequency depicted in customers purchasing behaviour as well as the intention of the customers to recommend further alterations for the enhancement of the services delivered. Contextually, it can also be stated that methods of service quality assists practitioners in managing the delivery of quality services effectively